Duke Nukem II is a platform game developed by Apogee Software and released December 3, 1993. The game consists of four episodes (of 8 levels each), the first available as shareware. Not to be confused with the second episode of Duke Nukem 1, it is the second Duke Nukem game, following the 1991 Duke Nukem debut and being followed by Duke Nukem 3D in 1996 and Duke Nukem Forever in 2011.

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In the "near future" year 1998 (Duke mentions that he had defeated Dr. Proton the previous year), the evil Rigelatins plan to enslave Earth, and they kidnap Duke Nukem (who was performing in an interview about his new autobiography Why I'm So Great), to use his brain to plot the attack for their forces. Duke breaks free to save the world, again.

The player's goal is to proceed through the levels collecting items, destroying enemies to the level exit and at the final level, defeat the super alien boss. In one level of each episode Duke needs to destroy radar dishes to progress.

Duke Nukem can pick up weapons along the way. There are four types of weapons: His regular default gun, the flamethrower (which can shoot through walls and launch him in the air), the laser (which can shoot through anything) and the rocket launcher. Duke can also get a rapid fire powerup. Health items can be collected to heal damage Duke receives or to boost score points at full health. Keycards need to be collected to access past the force fields and keys must be obtained to get past locked doors. A cloaking device makes Duke temporarily invincible and disables the super force fields.

Movement through the levels mainly consists of jumping onto platforms, climbing ladders, operating elevators, using teleporters, hovering over blowing fans and climbing hand-over-hand across pipes or girders. At the end of every level (with the exception of the last level in each episode), the player can receive up to seven 100,000 point bonuses, earned by making certain achievements in the level, such as destroying all cameras.

The Game Boy Color version of Duke Nukem II was titled Duke Nukem. It was released on September 10, 1999 in North America. Several of the enemies and backgrounds closely resemble those of the earlier DOS version of the game. However, the levels, graphics, music, enemies and bosses are brand new. Furthermore Duke has the ability to hang onto the edge of platforms in the Game Boy Color game. The game features 21 levels of play and eight save game slots.